Archive for the ‘George Barris’ tag

All hail the lifted Corvette. Typically set upon a Jeep or other four-wheel-drive chassis, the lifted Corvette is the hybrid we all secretly want in our driveways (not in our garages, because a true lifted Corvette will not fit in a garage). With sports car style and off-road ruggedness, the lifted Corvette is the true have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too machine, a big nosethumb at the establishment, and Corvettes at Carlisle will honor the breed with a special display of them this fall.

“Really, it’s no April Fool’s Day joke,” said Lance Miller, owner of Carlisle Events. “Corvettes at Carlisle falls between our truck and outdoor shows, and we’re looking into building a little off-road track for those two shows, so why not let the Corvette guys use it too? Besides, we’re always looking for something different.”

Asteroid photos courtesy Carlisle Events.

Speaking of something different, Corvettes at Carlisle this year will also feature the Asteroid, a custom 1963 Corvette built by George Barris. Speedboat racer Bob Nordskog bought the split-window coupe new in 1963, but ordered it without paint, knowing he’d send it directly to Barris’s shop in North Hollywood, California. There, Barris extended the nose, repositioned the headlamps behind the grille, removed the divider in the rear window, added headers that sprouted from the front fenders, and painted the body in metallic copper. Don Ferrara stitched the custom pearl white Naugahyde interior, and the small-block V-8 sprouted six Stromberg carburetors.

Barris, Ferrara, and Nordskog’s work paid off with a number of car show awards and feature stories in Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, and Popular Customs, and the Asteroid went on to appear on the cover of Jan and Dean’s 1963 album Drag City. According to Carlisle, the Asteroid will make its post-restoration debut at this year’s Corvettes at Carlisle.

Corvettes at Carlisle will take place August 23-25. For more information, visit CarsatCarlisle.com.

* Automotive history is rich with talented individuals such as Howard Scott, an artist who created several Rockwell-esque illustrations for the 1942 De Soto. Robert Tate told Scott’s tale over at Motorcities.

Camp still has its fans, apparently. The original Batmobile, an icon of the 1960s TV show portrayal of Batman, sold Saturday night for an astounding $4.62 million.

Originally built by Ford in the mid-1950s as the Lincoln Futura concept car (on a prototype Continental Mark II chassis, no less), the Batmobile took on its current guise a decade later when Hollywood customizer George Barris bought the Futura from Ford for $1 and arranged to provide a car for Twentieth Century Fox’s upcoming Batman television show. He then drew up a design, had Bill Cushenberry make a few alterations to the Futura body, removed the center section of the bubble canopy, painted it black with orange highlights, and added the various gadgets and gewgaws that helped make the car famous. While it suffered plenty of wear and tear from its use through the entire run of the show, Barris held on to the Batmobile up until this weekend, rarely missing an opportunity to promote it or show it off over the last 45 years.

Whether it was the original history as the Futura, Barris’s long-time ownership, or simply its role in a beloved TV series – or a combination of all three factors – the Batmobile ultimately hammered at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction for $4.2 million; a 10 percent buyer’s premium brought the total sale price to $4.62 million. Though far from the highest sale price of the weekend (a couple of Ferrari 250 GTOs have sold for north of $8 million at both RM and Gooding), the Batmobile topped Barrett-Jackson’s sales for the weekend and appears to have set a record for any TV or film car sold at public auction, just squeaking by the James Bond 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that sold for $4,608,500 in 2010.

The remainder of the Salon Collection at Barrett-Jackson did just as well, accumulating $29.2 million in total sales. Among the highlights from the Salon Collection were the 1956 Chrysler Diablo show car, which sold for $1.375 million, the 1947 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport, which sold for $2.035 million, and Clark Gable’s 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL gullwing, which also sold for $2.035 million. In total, Barrett-Jackson sold more than $108 million worth of cars over the weekend.

UPDATE (20.January 2013): According to Speed TV and Barrett-Jackson’s Twitter feed, the buyer was Arizona businessman Rick Champagne, who told Speed that he’s wanted the Batmobile ever since he was a kid and plans to keep it in his living room.

Da na na na na na na da na na na na na na. It might be the most overexposed and most replicated TV or movie car in history, but by the same token, the Batmobile is also the most well known and legendary screen car, with prior history as one of Lincoln’s most famous concept cars and continual ownership by customizer George Barris since well before Batman hit the airwaves. That continual ownership may soon come to an end, though, when Barris offers the original Batmobile for sale at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction.

The Batmobile’s history actually begins a couple of years before Lincoln debuted it as the Futura. During the development of the Continental Mark II, the Continental division briefly considered building the Mark II as a retractable hardtop convertible. Coachbuilder Hess and Eisenhardt of Cincinnati was then commissioned to build two mechanical prototypes for that project, basing them on 1953 Lincoln chassis stretched three inches to the Mark II dimensions. Only one such prototype, later known as MP#5, was built, so John Hollowell, who was in charge of that project, sold the other modified chassis to the Lincoln-Mercury division sometime before late 1954 for $17,000.

Lincoln-Mercury bought the chassis specifically to use as the basis for the Futura, a car that Lincoln head stylist Bill Schmidt began to sketch in 1952. Lincoln press materials claimed that Schmidt got the idea for the Futura when diving in the Bahamas, but as Jim and Cheryl Farrell wrote in their book Ford Design Department Concepts and Showcars, 1932-1961, while Schmidt did indeed vacation and dive in the Bahamas with Bill Mitchell (who, of course, took inspiration from the sea life he saw to create his own legendary concept cars), Schmidt actually took much of his inspiration for the Futura from jet fighters, as did many other stylists at that time. His double-bubble canopied, canted fendered two-seater concept quickly got approved to become a full-sized and functional concept car, and in late 1954 Schmidt sent the modified Lincoln chassis, a complete set of plans and a full-sized plaster model over to Ghia in Turin. Ghia then took just three months to hammer out a body from metal, paint it a unique iridescent bluish-white, and send it back to Dearborn. Lincoln then added the Plexiglas canopy and debuted the Futura in January 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show.

Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company.

The Futura was Lincoln’s last show car until 1963 and really their last dedicated show car not based on a production car until 1987, so the division continued to exhibit it until 1959, when Barris somehow convinced Lincoln to lend the Futura to Arcola Pictures and MGM for use (painted red) in the film It Started With a Kiss. After filming it went back to Dearborn, then again to Southern California, where it split the next six years between the MGM studio lot and Barris’s shop. As the Farrells wrote, “during that time, the tires went flat, the paint faded, one or two of the wheelcovers were lost and the car generally deteriorated.” Barris continued to work with Ford and Lincoln through the 1960s, however, and sometime in 1965 he convinced Lincoln to sell the Futura to him – reportedlyfor $1 – then negotiated with Twentieth Century Fox to provide a Batmobile for the upcoming Batman television series.

(As an aside, Dean Jeffries told Tom Cotter that he was originally tapped to build the Batmobile and had proceeded to cut up a Cadillac to do so, but the studio moved up the timetable on him, thus giving Barris the opportunity to provide the car. “The producers didn’t like working with Barris, but they were locked into him because he had the rights to the car,” Jeffries said. “They said, ‘We’re not going to deal with him again,’ so that’s how I ended up building the Green Hornet car and Wonder Woman’s car.”)

George Barris with the Batmobile. Photo courtesy Barrett-Jackson.

While Barris reportedly drew the sketches of the Futura-cum-Batmobile and received a design patent for it, he had plenty of help. Designer Herb Grasse, who worked for Barris at the time, reportedly had some input on the Batmobile’s design, and the metal work was subcontracted out to Bill Cushenberry. Barris then removed the center section of the bubble canopy, painted it black, modified the decklid with a “jet” exhaust and added the various bat-gadgets to the car. According to the Farrells, after filming of the show ended in 1968, Barris found cracks in the original frame, so he replaced it with a lengthened Ford Galaxie frame and at the same time repowered the Batmobile with a 390-cu.in. Ford V-8. Barris then attempted to sell the Batmobile at auction in 1973, but it went unsold and has remained in his possession since then.

The Batmobile, nee Futura, will cross the block with a reserve at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale sale, which takes place at the same bat-time, same bat-channel January 13-20. For more information, visit Barrett-Jackson.com.

* What was the very first Batmobile? Long before Adam West piloted the former Lincoln Futura concept car, Bob Kane drew the caped crusader cavorting around Gotham in a number of different automobiles, starting with the one above in 1941. Ronnie Schreiber at Cars in Depth makes the case for the sharknose Graham as the inspiration for that sketch.

* This photo of a Pontiac station wagon rotting on a beach somewhere has been making the rounds the last couple years, and we finally tracked it back to mikebaird’s Flickr account, where he notes that it was uncovered by winter storms on the California coast near Morro Bay. (via)

* Nineteen major carmakers currently sell into the American automobile market. Designer Larry Gormley took those 19 and traced their genealogy – the companies that they absorbed, bought out, and split away from – and created this awesome timeline of their family histories, accounting for both length of time in the market and for share of the market. This would have been useful for when we were doing the Six Degrees of Automotive Separation challenges. (via)

* Finally, our pal Charlie Beesley found several photos of this homebuilt motorhome, with no information to provide context. (via)

Apologies in advance for highlighting two Pontiac Firebirds in successive days for the Hemmings Find of the Day, but this 1969 Pontiac Firebird 400 convertible for sale on Hemmings.com is worth the repetition, it being the Firebird used in two different guises on I Dream of Jeannie: first in stock form (albeit loaded up directly from Pontiac), and second in George Barris-modified form. From the seller’s description:

Here is the background story on this very interesting Pontiac promotional car. In very early 1969, Pontiac produced this Firebird 400 convertible. It was Carousel Red (Orange) from the factory with a white deluxe interior and top. The car was loaded, as most promotional cars are, so as to feature as many available options that consumers could choose while ordering their own new Pontiac at their local Pontiac Dealership. This Firebird 400 Convertible actually was on the I Dream of Jeannie TV show in two different looks. First, it was on the show as Major Nelson’s (Larry Hagman) car in its regular, factory production car look at the end of the 4th season. Then during the show’s hiatus, Mr. Jim Wangers had the great idea to talk PMD into sending the car to George Barris to be customized. Pontiac agreed to the idea, and sent the car to Barris’s Van Nuys shop for some custom work and paint. They decided to send the Orange 1969 Firebird 400, which had already been on a few episodes of the IDOJ show, to Barris to be customized. Barris hand-made the fiberglass, twin scooped hood, as well as, the metal rear quarter panel side scoops and the metal, three-piece, adjustable rear wing. He then gave the whole car a fantastic metallic green paint job with white racing stripes. The car was modeled after the all-new and yet to be released 1969 Firebird Trans Am (1969 Trans Ams weren’t built until May of that year, which would have been too late for TV production purposes). According to Mr. Jim Wangers, this was the only car the Pontiac Motor Division ever sent to Barris to do. Barris has done lots of other Pontiacs for TV show production companies, but none were commissioned or paid for by PMD directly. After the car was finished, it appeared on the IDOJ show again, this time as Major Healey’s (Bill Daily) personal car.

Of the very short-lived vansploitation trend of late 1970s film, “Supervan” is perhaps the best known. And as we see from the world’s greatest chase scene above, the van in question – Vandora – was equipped with lasers. Looks like somebody had a little bit of Star Wars envy in 1977. Bonus, the trailer for this wreck of a movie, below:

Following a link in a comment the other day led us to what is, possibly, the greatest Flickr photo set we’ve seen in recent memory (aside from, of course, the photosets contributed to the Hemmings Nation Flick pool). Fred Childers was a frequent visitor to the Grand National Roadster Show when it was held in Oakland, so from the 1970s through to the late 1990s, he documented a period of time when billet had yet to be abused, when Volkswagens were considered acceptable kustom fodder, and when ZZ Top’s Eliminator provided aesthetic direction to many a painter. Along the way, we see Jim Molino’s Candy Man 1923 T bucket, which took home the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award in 1977; the Greer-Black-Prudhomme dragster; Tommy Ivo’s quad-engine Showboat; and plenty of works from Barris, D’Agostino, and Winfield. And it’s a good bet that not a single one of the vehicles in these photos cost seven figures to build, just for the bragging rights of having taken home a trophy too tall to fit in your front door. We’ve culled a selection of photos below, but hit Fred’s Flickr pool for plenty more.

This 1971 ASVE Barris Phase 4 Fun Buggy was custom built by Hollywoodâ€™s â€œKing of the Kustomizersâ€, George Barris. This charming piece features a high performance 1776 CC engine, roof-mounted surf boards, a deck-mounted travel trunk and colorful Barris graphics. An identical Phase 4 Buggy was used as the basis for as the “Bugaloo’s Buggy” from the 1970’s kid TV show, “The Bugaloos”

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which turned up here last week, was on a vast list of cars that developed after we posted updates on finding the Better off Dead Camaro, Risky Business Porsche and other iconic movie cars. Since then, we’ve both found some more and had suggestions for literally dozens of others that should be preserved for posterity (if your definition of posterity includes pointing and laughing), but we’ll start with one from the original list: The ’61Â Ferrari California Spyder (250 GT) from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

As we’ve mentioned before, it was a replica, built by our good friend Mark Goyette. Mark says there were three used in the film:

The Hero car. Built by Mark and leased to Paramount for the filming. It’s the one that jumps over the camera, and is used in almost every shot. At the end of filming, Paramount returned it to Mark, with the exhaust crushed and cracks in the body. “There was quite a bit of superficial damage, but it held up amazingly well,” he said. He rebuilt it, and sold it to a young couple in California. The husband later ran it off the road, and Mark rebuilt the front end for him. That owner sold it in the mid-90s, and it turned up again around 2000, but hasn’t emerged since.

Sold to Paramount as a kit for them to assemble as their stunt car, they did such a poor job that it was basically unusable, aside from going backwards out the window of Cameron’s house. Rebuilt, it ended up at Planet Hollywood in Minneapolis, but dropped off the map along with Planet Hollywood Minneapolis.

Another kit, supposed to be built as a shell for the out the window scene, it was never completed at all, and disappeared after the film was completed. Mark thinks he once heard it was eventually completed and sold off, but it could also still be in a back lot at Paramount.